York and North Yorkshire Deputy Mayor joined more than eighty partners this week to
strengthen collaboration and support safer roads across
York and North Yorkshire and beyond.
Leaders and road safety professionals from across the north of
England attended the first Northern Regional Road Safety Summit,
hosted by the York and North Yorkshire Road Safety Partnership on
Monday 2 February 2026 at the joint Police and Fire Service
Headquarters in Northallerton.
Opening with a speech from the Deputy Mayor, who
spoke about the importance of working together to tackle the
complex challenges around road safety, the event brought
together colleagues from policing, fire and rescue services,
local authorities, national agencies, charities and
campaigners.
It was a chance to share ideas, learn from each other and build
on a shared ambition to reduce road harm and improve safety for
everyone who uses our roads.
, Deputy Mayor for Policing, Fire and
Crime said:
“Over the last decade 390 people have been killed on the
roads of York and North Yorkshire, each of them a tragedy,
devastating a family and community. For too long the numbers
killed and seriously injured on our roads have
remained stubbornly high.
the Mayor and I set out
our commitment to improving road safety in our region in both our
police and crime plan and our fire and rescue plan and are
absolutely determined to provide positive, leadership as we take
this work forward together. Improving the safety of our
roads is not a job for just one agency. It has to be about
partnership.
So this week's Northern Regional Road Safety Conference,
hosted by the York and North Yorkshire Road Safety Partnership
was extremely welcome.
It comes just weeks after the Government published the new
national road safety strategy and brought together local partners
and national leaders on road safety. We have a real opportunity
now to turn the page as a region on over a decade of stagnation
in progress on reducing road deaths.
Thanks to , the Mayor, the York and
North Yorkshire Road Safety Partnership is now on a stable
financial footing and going forward can now take a more strategic
approach to reducing road deaths in our region. There's a
lot of work to do but we're determined to make progress
because one person being killed or seriously injured on our roads
is one person too many.”
Ben Moseley, Assistant Chief Constable North Yorkshire
Police and Chair of the York and North Yorkshire Road Safety
Partnership, said:
“The York and North Yorkshire Road Safety Partnership's
purpose is to lower the number of casualties on
our roads and we do so by tackling issues including
excessive speed, driver distractions, driving under the influence
of alcohol or drugs and careless driving.
We are grateful to all our partners who attended the event
and who work together to achieve this common purpose.”
National insight and local leadership
The day included strong national representation, with
contributions from the National Police Chiefs' Council, National
Fire Chief's Council and National Highways. Speakers focused on
the role of roads policing, prevention and behaviour change in
keeping communities safe.
Delegates also heard from charities and campaigners including
Brake and the British Horse Society, who shared powerful insight
into the real-world impact of road collisions and
the particular challenges of improving safety across a
large rural area.
Best practice from across the country was shared through case
studies from places including Warwickshire, Gwent,
Humber, Cumbria and East Riding of Yorkshire. North
Yorkshire Police also led sessions on fatal collision
investigation and review, aiming to
spark discussion and shared learning throughout the
day.
A shared commitment to safer roads
The afternoon focused on open discussion and collaboration, with
partners talking honestly about what is working well and where
more can be done together.
Key themes included enforcement, education and how safer road
design can help prevent serious harm, reinforcing the Combined
Authority's commitment to working alongside partners to make
roads safer for everyone.
